Warner Bros to launch branded
channels worldwide

28 November, 2007:

Warner Bros International Television
Distribution (WBITD) is launching a
number of branded, video-on-demand,
non-linear channels worldwide.

The proposed channels,
subscription-supported and
advertiser-supported, will have a
variety of delivery platforms that
will bring the Warner Bros’ film and
television series to viewers around
the world in a new way, the company
has announced.

Jeffrey R Schlesinger, president of
Warner Bros International Television,
said in a statement that the new
channels – named ‘Warner TV’ – would
build upon the successful linear
Warner Channel that has been operating
in Latin America for over 10 years.

The initiative, Schlesinger added, is
intended to create Warner Bros-branded
entertainment destinations that would
provide consumers with
round-the-clock, on-demand access to
top-quality programming on services
consisting primarily of content
produced and distributed by the
Studio.

In the United Kingdom, Warner TV is
available on Virgin Media’s digital
cable platform and on BT’s IPTV
television service.

Warner TV, according to the company
statement, is prominently featured on
Virgin Media’s ‘TV Choice on Demand’
and BT’s BT Vision SVOD services, with
branded gateways to the service on the
first page of the channel listings.
The service is available to all
on-demand subscribers.

Incidentally, Warner TV is the first
branded entertainment channel in the
United Kingdom devoted to TV series
programming from a single studio
provider and is one of the few branded
destinations that is not associated
with a linear channel in the UK,
Warner Bros said.

Warner Bros International Television
Distribution had earlier announced a
deal with Japan’s USEN Corporation for
a Warner TV channel on GyaO, USEN’s
advertisement-supported broadband
broadcasting service.

Over 100 titles from Warner Bros are
scheduled for release on Warner TV on
GyaO as well as via GyaO NEXT, USEN’s
SVOD service. This service is
available on the open internet, is but
geo-filtered for Japan only to protect
rights-holders of the programming
outside of Japan.

Warner Bros International Television
Distribution has also launched a
Warner TV service on the Free IPTV
platform in France on a subscription
basis. This service is a combination
of feature films and television series
made available after their initial
telecast on linear terrestrial
broadcasters.

According to the statement, WBITD has
signed a second deal in France with
Orange, which will see a series-based
Warner TV zone-launched on its IPTV
television on-demand service later in
2007.